DFM and ADX plummet on first day of trading

The Dubai Financial Market (DFM) fell the most in a year, while Abu Dhabi’s market, ADX, tumbled the most since May 2006, following Dubai’s announcement that Dubai World may delay debt payments by six months, Bloomberg reports.

The DFM’s index fell 7.2 percent to 1,942.62 at 11.39am in the emirate, while the ADX’s index fell 8.2 percent.

“Sentiment is really appalling,” said Mark Friedenthal, a fund manager at Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank. “Foreign investors will be dumping for a few days and the risk premium for the whole market has spiked because of the widening of sovereign credit defaults, so stocks are being sold off today.”